This month, we are going to try something different. I am proposing two topics and at the beginning of the meeting, we can have a vote to determine which one people would rather discuss.

Topi#1: Free speech, specifically as it applies to legitimate criticism of Islam where Islamist groups like CAIR and their campus afiliates have gone a campaign to silence all criticism of Islam, and also as it applies to nutcases like Pamela Geller who are being deliberately offensive claiming merely to be provocative.

Topic#2: The use of drones in the “War on Terror” (a term I hate). Recently two DAESH hostages, an American and an Italian were accidentally killed in a drone strike while taking out four terrorists. This has brought the debate over drones back to center stage. Is the use of drones ethical? Is it more ethical than, say, violating other nations’ sovereignty to go after bin Laden or using covert operatives to perform extraordinary renditions to capture and/or kill terrorists? Is pursuit of terrorists in the first place even justified?